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On September 20, 2017, the OCC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC issued a bulletin regarding the host state loan-to-deposit (LTD) ratios used to determine compliance with section 109 of the Riegle–Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 (IBBEA) issued on June 21, 2017. These bulletin provided host state LTD ratios using data as of June 30, 2016, and...

A Federal Reserve (Fed) statement released on September 20, 2017, shared market performance information gathered since the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) met in July of 2017. The Fed indicated labor market continued to strengthen and economic activity has moderately risen so far this year. Job gains have remained solid in recent months, and the unemployment rate has stayed low. Household...

On Wednesday, September 20, 2017, the CFPB took two actions regarding the pending HMDA reporting changes which: Finalized the amendments to Regulation B (ECOA) to permit the collection of ethnicity, race and gender information under the new HMDA rules, without violating the Regulation B prohibition; and Proposed for comment guidelines to address the privacy issues under the new regulation (i.e...

On Tuesday, September 19, 2017, the CFPB took action against Top Notch Funding & two individuals associated with the company for allegedly lying about loan offerings to consumers waiting for settlement payments . Top Notch’s alleged victims included former National Football League players suffering from neurological disorders, victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil-rig disaster, and September...

On Monday, September 18, 2017, the FDIC released a Financial Institution Letter encouraging depository institutions to consider all reasonable and prudent steps to assist customers in communities affected by recent storms. The agency recognized efforts to work with borrowers in impacted communities can be consistent with safe-and-sound banking practices and in the public interest. The FDIC's...

On Monday, September 18, 2017, the CFPB took action against the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts and their debt collector, Transworld Systems, Inc., for alleged illegal student loan debt collection lawsuits. The companies sued consumers for private student loan debt the companies could not prove was owed, or debt too old to litigate. The lawsuits allegedly relied on the filing of false or...

On Friday, September 15, 2017, the OCC released new enforcement actions taken against national banks, federal savings associations, and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with national banks and federal savings associations. All Cease and Desist Orders, Civil Money Penalty Orders, and Removal/Prohibition Orders are issued with the consent of the parties, unless otherwise indicated as a...

Preserve Arbitration: A Cost-Effective Alternative to Litigation How do consumers resolve disputes? Overwhelmingly, disputes between consumers and companies are resolved through informal channels and do not elevate to formal proceedings. Companies have strong incentives to maintain deep, well-informed, mutually satisfactory relationships with customers. Disputes rise to the level of a formal...

On Thursday, September 14, 2017, the CFPB announced that a no-action letter was issued to Upstart Network, Inc., who uses alternative data to make credit and pricing decisions. The no-action letter mandates that Upstart will regularly report lending and compliance information to the CFPB to mitigate risk to consumers and aid the Bureau’s understanding of the real-world impact of alternative data...

This week Capitol Hill weighed in heavily on the Equifax breach which reportedly affected more than 143 million customers. There were several letters from Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate. The Senate Commerce Committee sent a letter to Equifax CEO Richard Smith inquiring of the scope and response to the breach. Democrats from the House Energy and Commerce...